Opening our coworking space in the Maresme area, Happy Working, in a small coastal town like Caldes d’Estrac, has been one of the most interesting and challenging things we have done as operators. From the outside, the Coworking Maresme opportunity may seem like an easy bet: coastal lifestyle, proximity to Barcelona, a growing number of remote workers, and a territory that continues to attract new residents.
But the reality is more nuanced.
Even with years of experience as coworking consultants and operators, opening a space in Caldes d’Estrac reminded us that understanding the industry is not the same as activating a local market. The Maresme has real potential, but it also has its own rhythms, its own logic, and a user behaviour that differs significantly from what many operators expect in larger cities.
That is exactly why we believe this experience is worth sharing.
The Maresme is attractive, but not easy to activate
The first challenge is territorial.
The Maresme is still largely a residential area. People live here, but that does not automatically mean they work locally or feel connected to a local professional ecosystem. Many residents still keep their professional ties in Barcelona, while the local business fabric remains limited or concentrated in places such as Mataró.
That creates a very specific challenge for coworking.
You are not simply offering desks. You are trying to activate a local culture of work, connection, and belonging in a territory where that culture is still developing.
This becomes even more visible in a town like Caldes d’Estrac, which had 3,348 inhabitants in 2025. In a municipality of this size, coworking growth depends less on volume and more on trust, relevance, and the ability to build a real community over time.
In the Maresme, the real competition is home
One of our first detections was understanding what we were really competing against.
In many urban markets, coworking competes with other coworking spaces, long commutes, poor home-office conditions, or uninspiring cafés. In our case, the real competition is home itself.
In the Maresme, especially in higher-income areas, many professionals live in large, comfortable homes with enough space to work well. They already have what many urban workers are looking for: quiet, light, privacy, a proper setup, and in many cases even a garden and a swimming pool.
So when you open a coworking space here, you are not competing against discomfort. You are competing against comfort.
And yet, that same reality creates the opportunity.
Because even when people work very comfortably from home, many of them also feel alone. They miss informal interaction, fresh conversations, shared energy, and the feeling of being surrounded by other people building things. That social need is often what eventually brings them to coworking.
A weak coworking scene can also be an opportunity
The second challenge is the local coworking scene itself.
In many parts of the Maresme, coworking has existed, but often in very small, highly functional, or low-identity formats. The biggest coworking spaces are in Mataró, but they also tend to be more corporate buildings: functional, efficient, and, in many cases, quite boring.
At first glance, that can feel discouraging.
For us, it became one of the clearest opportunities.
When the market is still underdeveloped, there is room to build something more relevant. Not just a practical place to sit and work, but a space with character, meaning, and community. A place people choose not only because they need Wi-Fi and a desk, but because they want to feel part of something.
Barcelona keeps sending talent to the Maresme
Then there is the long-term shift that matters most.
The Maresme has been receiving a slow but steady migration of people leaving Barcelona to improve their quality of life. Some move for more space. Some for the sea. Some because remote work has finally made that move possible.
This migration is not explosive, but it is consistent.
And every new person who settles here brings networks, knowledge, ambition, and potential collaboration. The territory is quietly accumulating talent.
The challenge is that this talent is still fragmented.
People are here, but they are not necessarily connected. That is where coworking becomes strategic. If done well, it can act as local infrastructure for talent. It can become the place where people meet, collaborate, share opportunities, and begin to feel part of a wider professional ecosystem.
We have identified our target market
Les 3 Viles is where people look for more flexibility and where turnover is higher
The area of Les 3 Viles, Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, Sant Vicenç de Montalt, and Caldes d’Estrac, is where we have seen stronger demand for flexibility and a higher level of user rotation.
These towns have a strong residential profile and relatively high purchasing power. There are entrepreneurs, consultants, creatives, freelancers, and remote workers living there, many of them in very comfortable homes.
That does not change our value proposition. It makes it clearer what people are really coming for.
If people are going to leave a spacious and pleasant home environment, the place they choose has to offer something truly valuable in return. In our case, that also means offering a premium experience: a protected 19th-century building, tastefully designed interiors, and a fully comfortable environment that feels inspiring, welcoming, and professional at the same time.
People are not looking for just any desk. They are looking for a place that helps them work better, feel better, and connect with others in a setting that has character.
In this kind of market, coworking is often less about infrastructure and more about connection.
User behaviour here is also very different from what we usually see in large cities. In urban markets, many coworking operators rely heavily on full-time memberships and routines built around replacing the traditional office. In Les 3 Viles, that logic does not fully apply.
People here often do not want to come every day. They already have a good place to work from home. What they need is flexibility, access, and opportunities to reconnect with other people throughout the week.
That is exactly why our most popular plan is the 80-hours-per-month membership.
This product allows members to come any day of the week, at any time, for up to 80 hours a month. It has worked especially well because it fits the reality of the local user. They want autonomy and comfort, but they also want social interaction and a professional atmosphere when they need it.
The same thing happens with shorter flexible products, such as a 4-hour pass.
Both products respond to the same behaviour: people do not necessarily want to replace working from home, but they do want to complement it. Once you understand that, your membership strategy becomes much more accurate.
Mataró, Arenys de Mar and Canet de Mar: a key market for entrepreneurs and small companies
Mataró, Arenys de Mar and Canet de Mar are important markets for us, especially when it comes to attracting entrepreneurs and small companies that may need private offices. This matters because private offices are one of the key products in the business from a profitability point of view.
For us, these areas represent a potential market with a broader middle-income audience. The dynamics are slightly different in each location, but the need is there. There is talent, there are well-qualified professionals, and there is room for a stronger local ecosystem if the offer is built with the right positioning. Many of these professionals live in apartments rather than large houses, which makes fixed workspaces and private offices especially relevant in this part of the market.
While flex desks and day passes help create flow, visibility, and community, private offices bring a different kind of stability to the operation.
That is why part of our local commercial effort is focused on identifying and approaching the right companies and professionals in Mataró, Arenys de Mar and Canet de Mar.
Our strategy and positioning: partnerships, culture, wellbeing, and glocal community
From the beginning, we knew that opening a coworking space in Caldes d’Estrac could not be reduced to real estate or desk sales.
If we wanted to make it sustainable, we had to build local relevance and community.
That is why one of our first pillars has been strategic collaborations with business and entrepreneurship organisations. In emerging markets, coworking spaces need alliances. These partnerships bring visibility, legitimacy, and access to existing networks instead of forcing you to build everything from scratch.
The second pillar has been to become a place where things happen.
Not just work, but also culture, social activity, wellbeing, and community moments. In a market where many people can work comfortably from home, the winning strategy is not to imitate the office. It is to offer a richer experience of everyday work life.
This is also why our product is differentiated, even if the market does not yet have much competition.
What we are building is not just a workspace. We are intentionally combining work, productivity, wellbeing, and a premium spatial experience. Our coworking is located in a protected 19th-century building, designed with great care and made to feel fully comfortable for everyday work. That mix is a core part of our value proposition and one of the reasons the project feels different.
In a market where many people already have comfortable homes, design, atmosphere, and comfort are not secondary. They are part of the product.
We have recently formalised a collaboration with a yoga studio that will activate our wellbeing room with both internal and external programming. This helps us in several ways.
It strengthens the member experience.
It gives more visibility to the space.
And it also helps us attract professionals working in the wellbeing and holistic sector, people who can become part of the community and enrich the kind of network we are building.
Our goal is not simply to gather people who need a place to work.
It is to create a community of talent that also values personal and professional wellbeing.
The third pillar is building what we call a glocal community.
For us, that means connecting local people with global mindsets. It means creating bridges between Maresme professionals, expats already living in the area, and new residents arriving from Barcelona or abroad.
That balance matters.
If you only build for locals, you risk staying too small. If you only build for newcomers, you risk creating something superficial. The real value appears when both worlds meet.
Conclusion
Opening a coworking space in the Maresme is not easy.
Even with experience as consultants and operators, it requires patience, local understanding, and a very clear point of view. The market needs education. Demand is fragmented. Home is strong competition. And community does not appear automatically.
But that is also exactly why the opportunity is so interesting.
The Maresme does not need more generic workspaces. It needs places that connect talent, create belonging, and offer a more human way of working. That is the challenge we took on in Caldes d’Estrac, and it is why we believe so strongly in the future of coworking in this territory.